Olden Ways
The quick answer: To organize a healthier family food culture, write weekly menus.
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Returning Home
After Christmas the Beautiful Wife and I returned to her family roots, high in little Midway, Utah. The century-old Victorian (shown above) was her father’s childhood home. The statue remembers her grandfather, or great-grandfather depending on who is telling the story, and was carved from an old tree on the property.
The weather was crispy cold with occasional snowfalls and we mostly stayed indoors, sleeping at night under thick down comforters. Each day found me with a book to read. We listened to music, ate healthy meals (to my surprise I had gained 10 lb. over the Holidays so was keeping a food log), and rediscovered an old treat—dancing together with the lights turned down. It was all very nice.
What was I reading? Nutrition books, like Mike Pollan’s In Defense of Food (my 4th reading), Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live, Nina Planck’s Real Food (2nd time), Barbara Reed's Food, Teens & Behavior (a remarkable study of criminal behavior change through healthy eating), and Pollan’s Food Rules, An Eater’s Manual. I also met with Jane Birch, a BYU staff member, and read her new book, Discovering the Word of Wisdom. (We’ll review of Jane’s book in a few weeks, when we visit the theme of eating meat sparingly.)
The point of my Midway retreat was to think long and hard about the 52 Healthy Changes. They’re a work in progress, improving each year as the Food Reformation moves along its forward path. I was surprised by my feelings—a growing affection for those olden ways of times past. It seemed to me that there was more wisdom to be gained here than from all that science has discovered—though I enjoy reading about nutrition science.
It was just in the ‘30s that the BW’s father grew up in this house, farming and eating as people had for eons. The evidence is in the picture. The shed at the right edge is where they kept the family cow, their source of raw pastured dairy, in bad weather. In front of it was a large kitchen garden, protected from bugs by their ranging chickens. Across the street Uncle Coony’s smokehouse preserved hams from their pigs. There was a gristmill across town for fresh-ground wheat. The women of the home baked twice a week—everything was whole wheat and because these were Depression times there was little money for luxuries like sugar. They might have enjoyed a soda pop on a big holiday, like the 4th of July, or maybe Pioneer Day.
When I wrote his memoirs, the BW’s father recalled all this, noting a winter treat—taking a cold apple from the root cellar, dipping it in the hot water tank of their wood-burning stove to warm it, and then removing the peel with a sharp knife in a single piece. In this lovely old home, deep in my books and thoughts, I dreamed of a rebirth for traditional eating—and the rise of a healthy Mormon food culture. Isn’t it true that what can be imagined can be achieved?
Write A Menu
In the Holiday bustle we got out of the habit of writing a weekly menu and started to eat by impulse—more snacks and less prepared lunches and dinners. Per my confession above, I gained 10 lbs. By eating healthy in Midway with the discipline of a food log, I shed a pound a day and came home close to my weight goal. First thing at home we wrote a food menu for the week.
So we’re back to using a menu, which also saves money because less food goes bad in the ‘fridge. Last night I cooked blackened salmon while the BW made a kale salad. I had a slice of sourdough whole-wheat bread and we shared an orange for dessert. It feels good when you make these mid-course diet corrections.
You can read more about menu writing in the 2012 and 2013 posts.
Please comment: Sometimes we get busy and fail to write a menu, but then we realize life is less hectic when we do the planning step of weekly menu preparation. Got a favorite way to write menus? Tell us about it, or share one of your favorite meals. In the next post we’ll share our menu for this week.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 9:55AM | by Skip Hellewell | 13 Comments | 95 References | Share Article | Email Article 
Reader Comments (13)
I'm a married mom of three young kids. The easiest way I have found to keep up with menu planning is to have a few theme nights.
Fri - pizza night (homemade is ideal, I go in phases)
Sat - easy night (kids fend for themselves or sometimes we go out)
Sun - something with meat, often crockpot
Mon - leftovers or pasta
Tue - whatever I want :)
Wed - frozen night (I often make extras and always have frozen meals waiting)
Thu - breakfast for dinner (omelets, eggs & bacon, waffles, smoothies, etc)
Before grocery shopping I check recipes and make sure I have all the ingredients I need.
We always eat better and save money if I stick to this!
I love soup -- any time of year. Anything goes with soup, and many times it happens when it's Clean Out the Fridge Day. It's so forgiving.
We tried a new soup -- courtesy of Cooks Country. I had a little ham squirreled away since Christmas, and even a smaller amount would have worked because it's so flavorful. We also found we like kale --- a little. It doesn't go limp and slimey like spinach in a soup. Here's the recipe:
Lentil Soup with Ham
INGREDIENTS
* 1 Ham Bone -- break to fit pan it necessary
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups dried brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine (optional)
• 7 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 ham bone, plus 2 cups leftover chopped ham
• 1/2 pound kale, stemmed and leaves chopped
• Salt and pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add lentils, carrots, and onion and cook until vegetables are softened and lentils are beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and cook until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Stir in broth, thyme, bay leaf, and pepper flakes and bring to boil.
2. Add ham bone, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, until thickened and lentils are completely tender, about 1 hour. Discard ham bone and bay leaf. Puree 2 cups soup until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot and stir in kale and ham. Simmer, covered, until kale is tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.
I think we have a common connection in Mudway, UT. I grew up there and my maiden name is Gertsch. When you mentioned, "uncle coony," my heart skipped a little beat. You'll have to email me and let me know your wife's maiden name and/or connection to Midway. Just enjoyed taking my family there for Christmas!
I have friends that cook by the seat of their pants. No planning for them. I find it so much easier to eat healthy if I plan, but oh how I hate the planning.
My menu planning is as simple as writing it on the calendar. Nothing fancy but it does the job.
I usually pick what meal based on how busy the evening is going to be. On busy nights I'll assign a freezer meal. I try to have 5-10 of those in the freezer at any given time (if I make lasagna or enchiladas I'll double the recipe and put half in the freezer). On nights when I know I'll be home I'll assign a meal that takes some preparation. Menu planning saves me time and money...it's a great habit to have!
I use an Excel spreadsheet. Each worksheet is one month, and I have the cells set up calendar-style. I normally plan one week at a time (I'll usually plan on Thursday for the following week, since that is when the grocery store sale flyer comes out) but sometimes I plan farther out. I used to do the menu planning on a whiteboard calendar in the kitchen, but I prefer the spreadsheet because I can save previous months' menus. This way, if I am feeling uninspired, I can look back to previous months for ideas.
We were doing the themed nights for our menu planning, but the kids seemed to get tired of it. The only thing we have really kept up with is pizza night. I do plan the meals every week still, though. I make my list of meals in Evernote on my phone. Then I print a copy for the fridge in case I am gone and my husband needs to make the meals.
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